One thing I've learned from reading this excellent book is that research librarians don't support research, they facilitate it. By describing their role as facilitation, Moira J. Bent emphasizes the contribution librarians make to the research process.Bent is a faculty liaison librarian and National Teaching Fellow at Newcastle University (UK), so she has great experience assisting researchers with their research. She has compiled a large number of tips and tricks which can be used by librarians in the real world. It is a useful, helpful guide for increasing researchers' use of the library and shows how library staff can be promoted as facilitators of research.The book is designed to be consulted as required, not read from cover to cover, but that is how I read it on a flight over a couple of hours. With my colored tags, I have a rainbow of points highlighted that I can adapt to my library situation. As part of a series designed to provide "practical guides for the busy professional," this text succeeds in telling you "what you need to know to make a quick impact" in the research area (quotes from back cover). There is a very detailed reference list, including many websites. The book contains many tips and examples provided by actual librarians in the research field of how they have used certain points effectively in their own libraries.The strength of the book is the number of ideas provided. Every section has multiple tips that can be adapted for use in just about any library situation. Although many of the examples come from larger, multi-staffed, often university libraries, I feel I can adapt many of them to my small, one-person, special library. I think some specific ideas for smaller libraries would be helpful, but the ones that are provided can be scaled down to suit most library situations.As someone who is just starting out on the library research facilitation journey, I rate this book very highly for others in the same situation. I also think it would be very useful for experienced research facilitators with many ideas for facing all sorts of situations in facilitating research and advancing the library's role within it.The intended audience is the experienced library and information professional involved with assisting researchers, be they faculty or student researchers, from all levels of experience with research. If you have students starting to do research (bachelor, master, or doctoral) or experienced, well-published researchers to work with on staff, there are sure to be tips you can apply to your situation to increase your library's facilitation of research at your institution.
S tocktaking is a valuable part of library work. It maintains collection quality and makes the collection accessible and relevant. It ensures that your catalogue accurately refl ects what is on the shelves in the library. A once-a-year stocktake allows every item to be physically handled, mended, repaired, re-catalogued or removed, if required. Stocktaking also allows for everything to be in its rightful place, in perfect order, at least for fi ve minutes until a user comes in to use something! Some libraries perform a stocktake on a section-by-section basis, others do the entire collection in one go. Th is year during my annual stocktake procedure, I did a few things diff erently and had some unexpected, but pleasantly surprising and pleasing results.Prior to beginning my stocktake, I requested that all loans from students, especially those graduating, and non-essential loans from staff were returned. Th is enables me to 'fi t' the collection on the shelves correctly, rather than guessing how much room I need for each Dewey area. It also provides less of a chance for items to disappear under beds during the holiday season, never to be seen again. After the fi nal date for loans to be returned, I allow one more 'secret' week, as there are always a few stragglers that can never seem to get stuff back by the day they have been told. Th en I am ready to begin! It is not necessary to close the library during a stocktake. However, during my annual stocktake, I prefer to close the library to students, most of whom have fi nished their studies anyway, and only allow staff members to use the library if they really need to. Th is ensures the collection I have already stocktaked stays in the correct shelf order for as long as possible."Stocktaking and weeding are two activities that are often not highly publicised outside the library environment and are not well understood by non-library staff ." 1 Other staff members just don't get why I love to do my annual stocktake -even my husband calls me a 'major nerd'! I love putting things in order and for that to be successful, it can't be messed up by students and staff browsing the shelves, removing items and putting them back wherever they like. Closing the library gives me the assurance that it will stay in order at least until I re-open -even if it is only 1-2 weeks later.
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